Package with tear strip



April 15, 1969 p COLLURA ET AL PACKAGE WITH TEAR STRIP Filed Feb. 14. 1968 jnvenfors PETER c. COLLURA ARTHUR R VENDITTI JOHN D. DESMOND THEODORE S. LESINSKI United States Patent US. Cl. 229-14 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A pouch-type package, comprising a wrapper of flexible sheet material secured around an article, is formed with a projecting tear strip secured on the interior surface of the wrapper, whereby the wrapper may readily be severed. This package is enclosed within a paperboard carton having a joint formed of overlapping panels. The end of the tear strip extends through the joint to the exterior of the carton and, by pulling on the end of the tear strip, both the interior wrapper and a wall of the carton may be severed at the same time to give access to the packaged article.

This invention relates to readily openable packages of the type in which an article or commodity is enclosed within a wrapper or pouch, formed of flexible sheet material, and the wrapper or pouch element with its contents is then enclosed within a paperboard carton.

One object of the invention is to provide an improved and eflicient construction in which an inner, flexible pouch formed with a tear strip opening feature is enclosed within a paperboard carton, the end of the tear strip being extended to the outside of the carton, whereby walls or panels of both the pouch and carton may be severed or disrupted simultaneously to give access to the pouch contents.

A further object is to provide an effective combination of a readily openable pouch formed with a tear strip, the pouch being enclosed within a carton, and certain of the walls of such carton being formed with weakened tear lines whereby some portions of the weakened lines of the carton can be severed by the tear strip while other portions can be severed by finger pressure, or by a suitable instrument, thus freeing the pouch for access thereto or removal, so that the tear strip on the pouch may be easily utilized to continue the severance of the material of the pouch to permit removal of its contents.

A still further object is to provide a construction of carton and enclosed pouch having a tear strip feature in which the carton is relatively shallow, having narrow side and end walls and relatively wide top and bottom main panels, the carton being formed with weakened lines extending across the top panel and opposite end walls, with the tear strip of the pouch and the weakened lines in substantial registration and located at a distance from a side wall, whereby, after severing the carton along its weakened lines in the top panel and end walls, a cap section is formed which may be swung on a hinge line in the bottom panel to provide an opening which will expose the end portion of the pouch for removal or for completion of the tearing of the pouch to permit its contents to be removed.

Other and more specific objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

3,438,563 Patented Apr. 15, 1969 ice In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a suitable blank from which the carton may be formed;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of a completed pouch as it appears before it is enclosed within the carton;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the completed carton with the end of the tear strip of the pouch extended outside the carton; and

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary perspective view to illustrate a mode of opening both carton and pouch to enable the pouch to be removed from the carton for its opening to be completed, or to enable the pouch to be opened after an end portion of the carton has been swung clear of the end of the pouch.

The herein disclosed combination of an inner pouchtype container and outer paperboard carton with a single tear construction is advantageous for use in the packaging of articles, such as certain types of photographic film packs as well as other articles or commodities which require hermetic sealing to keep them in usable condition. The inner pouch-type container may be economically formed of flexible, nupturable, impervious sheet material which, while providing the necessary hermetic sealing conditions, is usually not well adapted to withstand extensive handling. It is desirable, therefore, to enclose the pouch within a sturdy form of carton to afford protection and also to give the package good stacking qualities and a more neat and attractive appearance.

The enclosing carton may conveniently be made from a single blank of foldable paperboard suitably cut and crease scored to provide in effect a shallow tray consisting of an elongated rectangular bottom wall panel with upstanding side and end walls. One end wall may carry at its edge a securing flap. A top wall panel is hingedly carried on the top edge of the other end wall. After the pouch has been formed about the article to be packaged, it is placed within the tray section and the end of the tear strip to be used for opening the pouch is extended to the outside of the carton, preferably through the joint formed by securing the free end of the top panel to the flap on the carton end wall.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the carton blank is indicated as a whole at 1 and the hermetically sealed pouch is indicated at 2.

The carton blank provides an elongated, rectangular bottom wall panel 3 and a similar top wall panel 4. An end wall panel 5 between the panels 3 and 4 is defined from such panels by fold lines 6 and 7. A second end wall 8 is hinged to the opposite end of panel 3 and is defined from panel 3 by fold line 9. A connecting flap 10 is carried on the opposite side of end wall 8 and is defined therefrom by fold line 11.

Side wall panels 12 and 13 are joined to the sides of bottom panel 3, and similar side panels 14 and 15 are joined to top panel 4. These side panels are defined from the panels 3 and 4 by fold lines 16 and 17 extending the length of the blank. Corner flaps 18 and 19 are carried at the ends of end wall 8 and similar flaps 20 and 21 are carried at the ends of end wall 5.

The carton may be set up by folding the end walls upright, and folding the corner flaps inward at right angles to the end walls. The side walls are then brought to upright position and secured to the corner flaps, thus forming an open top tray. The pouch is then placed Within the tray, after which the connecting flap 10 is folded inward and the top wall 4 is then swung down and secured to the connecting flap. The side flaps 14 and 15 are then swung down and secured against the respective side walls 12 and 13.

In the present instance the carton when set up is designed to permit an end portion to be swung away from its original position to give access to the pouch 2. For this purpose, a weakened line 24 is formed in the top wall panel 4 and end wall 5 and an aligned weakened line 24a is formed in end wall 8 and flap 10. The bottom wall 3 is formed with a hinge line 25 on which the end portion, designated as a whole at In, see FIGURE 4, may be swung. This end portion 1a, referred to herein as a cap or cap section, may be swung as soon as the wall 4, with the walls 5 and 8 and connecting flap are severed along their weakened lines. The several portion of wall 4 is designated at 40, and the severed portions of the end walls and connecting flap are designated 5a, 8a and 10a.

The top wall panel 4 is preferably notched at 26 at the end of the weakened line 24; and the connecting flap 10 may also be notched at 27 in alignment with notch 26. By forming these notches the severance of the carton walls is facilitated as there will be only a single thickness of paperboard to be severed at the joint formed by the connecting flap and end wall 4.

The pouch 2 may be of conventional form. As shown herein, a single sheet is employed having a length of strong plastic tear strip heat-sealed or adhesively secured on the inside surface of the sheet with a short length of the tear strip extending beyond one edge of the sheet. The opposite edges of the sheet are brought together to form a joint 28 with the tear strip 29 extending through this joint. The opposite free edges of the sheet are then brought together and sealed to form joints 30 and 31. The tear strip preferably is spaced from the end of the pouch a distance so that the strip will be adjacent the weakened line of the top panel 4 when the pouch is enclosed within the carton.

When the carton has been partially set up to provide an open top tray the filled pouch is deposited flatwise within the tray and the extended end of the tea strip will be in general registry with the weakened line 24. The internal dimensions of the carton are such that the pouch will fit relatively snugly within the closed carton.

After the pouch has been placed in the bottom portion of the carton, the top wall panel 4 is folded down and secured to the connecting flap 10 with the tear strip extending between the top wall panel 4 and flap 10. If the notch 26 is made sufliciently long as to overlap the notch 27 the tear strip will extend through the opening formed by the overlapping notches. After the top wall 4 is in place the flaps 14 and will be secured against the side flaps 12 and 13. The package is then complete, as shown in FIGURE 3, and is ready for storage, or shipment to a retail outlet.

When the user of the package is ready to remove the contained article, the end of the tear strip is grasped and pulled in a direction away from end wall 8 to sever the wall 4 along weakened line 24 and this may be continued until the end wall 5 has also been severed. The user may then break the connecting flap 10 and end wall 8 along weakened line 24a, either by hand or by a suitable instrument, leaving the cap section 4a secured to the carton only along hinge line 25. The cap section may then be swung away from the end of the pouch, as shown in FIGURE 4, or the cap section may be swung 90 farther so that the section of wall 3 above the hinge line 25 will be brought into close relation with the section of wall 3 below the hinge line. The user may then continue to sever the pouch walls with the tear strip while the pouch remains in the opened carton.

The weakened line of tear in the top wall and the hinge line in the rear wall are preferably placed at a distance from the side edge of the carton approximately the width of the side wall so that the contour of the cap, as seen from its end, is generally square. While the pouch with its contents substantially fills the interior of the carton, some leeway is provided due to the fact that the pouch does not fit tightly about its contents and due to the projecting seams 30 and 31 which are folded against the pouch edges when the pouch is packed within the carton. If it is desired that the pouch be enclosed more snugly within the carton, the depth of the cap section may be decreased to still provide for easy swinging of the cap section away from the side of the carton. In such event the position of the pouch tear strip will be changed so that such strip will be closer to the adjacent edge of the pouch.

While the carton herein illustrated has been described as having side and end walls, it is to be understood that this is for convenience of description and that such walls can be of the same dimension or their dimensions could be reversed. Likewise, the walls referred to as top and bottom walls of the carton could also be considered as front and rear walls.

We claim:

1. A package comprising:

(a) an outer paperboard carton having an elongated,

rectangular main panel forming a bottom wall;

(b) side and end wall panels at the respective sides and ends of the main panel;

(c) means for connecting the adjacent ends of the side and end panels at the corners of the carton;

(d) a second main panel carried on the upper edge of one end wall, said panel forming a top wall;

(e) means for connecting the free outer end of the top wall to the opposite end wall;

(f) an inner container having a contour generally conforming with the interior of the carton, such inner container being formed of rupturable sheet material;

(g) a tear strip disposed along a severance line on the inside surface of the rupturable sheet material, said tear strip having a free end portion extending on the exterior of the inner container, such free end I portion being arranged to be grasped and pulled to sever the sheet material along the severance line and give access to the contents of the inner container;

(h) the top wall panel of the outer carton having a weakened line extending thereacross along a line adjacent the severance line of the sheet material of the inner container; and

(i) the free end portion of the tear strip being extended to the exterior of the outer carton at said weakened line, whereby pulling the end of the tear strip will sever the top forming panel along its weakened line simultaneously with the severance of the sheet material of the inner container.

2. A package as defined in claim 1 in which:

(a) the end wall opposite to that which carries the top wall has a connecting flap carried on its free edge;

(b) the outer free end portion of the top wall is adapted to be connected to such flap to form a joint; and

(c) the free end portion of the tear strip is extended through such joint.

3. A package as defined in claim 2 wherein the outer free end of the top wall is formed with a notch aligned with the weakened line in such top wall, said notch being extended back from the free end substantially to the adjacent free edge of the connecting flap in the set-up carton, whereby severance of the top wall along the place where the weakened line crosses the carton joint is facilitated.

4. A package as defined in claim 1 wherein (a) theside and end walls of the carton are relatively narrow to provide a carton of shallow depth;

(b) the weakened line in the outer carton is formed to extend across both end walls as well as across the top wall;

6 =3 (c) the bottom wall of the outer carton has a hinge References Cited line aligned with the ends of the weakened lines in UNITED STATES PATENTS the opposite end walls;

(d) such weakened lines and hinge line being spaced inwardly from a side edge of the carton whereby, 5 after severing the top and end walls along their weakened lines, the side portion of the carton, thus released, will form a cap section swingable on the hinge line of the bottom wall to a position in which U S Cl X R said cap section is clear of the adjacent portion of 10 66 the inner container, permitting removal of the inner container from the carton.

147,697 2/1874 Smith. 901,286 10/1908 Ferres et al. 2,836,343 5/1958 Will.

DAVID M. BOCKENEK, Primary Examiner. 

